On View

Chinese

Chimera

This imaginary creature, intended as a tomb guardian, is associated with ancient Chinese funerary practice and popular Confucian beliefs about worshipping at and maintaining the graves of one’s ancestors. A fantastic composite having wings, small horns, a beard, clawed feet, and feathery protrusions, the chimera was believed to ward off evil. This sculpture rested on top of a tall pillar placed along the ‘spirit road’ leading to the tomb of a member of one of the ruling families residing at Nanjing. Many of these sculptures lined the way, some on the ground and some on columns.

Tomb guardians in the form of stone sculptures were essential for the protection of graves, a custom important to Confucian beliefs of ancestor veneration and worrship. Imaginary creatures with wings, horns, beards, clawed feet, and feathery protrusions were placed on roads leading to burial sites. Believed to ward off evil spirits, they rested atop pillars or directly on the ground. The perpetual care of deceased ancestors through worship and ritual would in turn guarantee prosperity for future generations.

This imaginary creature, intended as a tomb guardian, is associated with ancient Chinese funerary practice and popular Confucian beliefs about worshipping at and maintaining the graves of one’s ancestors. A fantastic composite having wings, small horns, a beard, clawed feet, and feathery protrusions, the chimera was believed to ward off evil. This sculpture rested on top of a tall pillar placed along the ‘spirit road’ leading to the tomb of a member of one of the ruling families residing at Nanjing. Many of these sculptures lined the way, some on the ground and some on columns.

Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. “Selected Works”. Providence: Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, 2008.

Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. “A Handbook of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design”. Providence: Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, 1985.